Trust
by AceEternal
Summary: Sweetie wasn't eavesdropping! She was concerned for her sister, and ended up learning more about Rarity than she probably ever wanted to know. Before she can run back to bed and forget the whole thing, she gets some unsolicited advice from somepony she never expected to see after-hours in Carousel Boutique.


Rarity told me never to go in her room at night unless it was an emergency. She needed her 'beauty sleep', or something. It was like that when we were both still living with Mom and Dad and it was like that when I visited her now. I had ignored it a few times before and she'd gotten really mad. That's why I hesitated at first…but if the sound of my big sister crying isn't an emergency, then I don't know what is.

I approached her door really slowly, taking careful steps so the sound of my hooves wouldn't give me away. That had gotten me busted so many times before, and I knew that if she heard me, she'd just usher me back to my room and insist everything was fine. It wasn't, though, and I wanted to know why. There are two types of Rarity crying: the kind where she's being dramatic and the kind where she's truly upset. If you don't know her, it's hard to tell the difference, but for somepony with as much Rarity Meltdown experience as I have, you could tell this was definitely something real.

I was just in time to see Opal strutting out of the room like she didn't even notice my sister crying. I glared at her; I never really liked that dumb, stuck-up cat, and stuff like this was the reason why. I shook my head and leaned forward to peer through the crack, getting chills when I saw what was on the other side. All the hair on my back prickled and stood up straight from my mane to my tail. I guess I was expecting Rarity to be alone.

He'd had been stopping by the boutique a lot lately. The first time he'd said he wanted to thank her personally for helping him out on Mare's day, but he and my sister had started talking about her new boutique in Canterlot and he stayed the afternoon for tea. She'd invited him back a few times after that, to "pick his brain". It sounded gross, but she said he was really helping her figure out how to handle more than one store at a time. He had come over earlier today to give Rarity some more "sound business advice", and I could see now that he had never left.

They were sitting together on her bed and she was still crying, just really wailing into his chest. I could see from where I was that her mascara was running. Mr. Rich just sat there with her. He looked really sad, and kind of tired, but he seemed weirdly calm about my sister freaking out on him, almost like he was used to that kind of thing.

"Don't _go_ ," she sobbed.

"You know I've got to, pumpkin." he said. I scrunched my nose at that nickname, and how it sounded so sickeningly sweet the way he said it. It reminded me of something Miss Cheerliee said once at Parents' Night at school. I heard her tell one of the moms Mr. Rich could take the same words out of any other pony's mouth and make them sound ten times sweeter. I knew what she meant, now, and I might have laughed, if I didn't feel so bad for Rarity.

"I've got to go home before it gets too terribly late."

"Just say you have a business emergency. You need to go to Manehattan. Canterlot…anywhere. I know you can."

"Yes, but I can't stay here. Sweetie Belle can't see me here in the morning. Neither can anypony else, for that matter."

Rarity let out another wail, and I looked away for a second. I almost felt embarrassed for her, acting like one of the first year fillies at my school.

I figured out a long time ago that one of the reasons Rarity wanted her space was coltfriends, but this felt…different. Mr. Rich couldn't be her coltfriend, he was Diamond Tiara's dad. I knew he already had a family, but when I looked at them again I just felt confused. He kissed her on top of the head, just like a coltfriend would do.

He pulled back and put a hoof under her chin, making her look at him.

"You'll see me again, very soon. Tomorrow, even."

Rarity shook her head and pulled away, hiding her face in his chest again, and I knew it was because she didn't want him to see her ruined makeup. As upset as she was, she was still one of the vainest ponies I knew.

"It's not the fact that you're leaving." she said between gasps. "It's that you're going home to…to _her…"_

Mr. Rich's face changed. He looked sad again, maybe more tired than before. He flattened his ears, rested his chin on top of my sister's head. He closed his eyes and I saw his entire chest heave as he sighed, long and slow.

"Darlin, we don't even sleep in the same room."

Rarity's crying had calmed down a bit. She didn't say anything, but I knew she was listening. So did Mr. Rich, I guess, because he kept talking.

"Marriage is a lot like a business merger. Operating as a unit is different than operating as two separate entities. It opens more doors for you than you could ever manage on your own. As a stallion responsible for a considerably large business, I needed things. I needed status, I needed connections, and I needed an heir. What I'm saying …Rarity…" he stopped for a moment to use her name. "What I'm saying is, there are a lot of reasons I married, and love is not one of them. Do you understand?"

Rarity nodded. She placed a hoof on his chest and leaned in, kissing him square on the lips.

I gasped. I heard my voice squeak and I clasped a hoof over my muzzle, immediately realizing my mistake. I backed away from the door.

I knew that if I trotted back to my room, they would hear me for sure. I had to hide, and fast, so I slipped behind one of Rarity's thick, velour curtains near the front door. I probably could have made it back to bed quietly enough, but there was so much going through my head right then. My sister and Mr. Rich? Was that even allowed? I was all mixed up, and all I wanted to do was hide until I knew he was gone so I could have a freakout of my own.

It seemed like a million years passed before I heard hoofprints clicking across the floor. They were slow and heavy; it was Mr. Rich, and he was alone. My sister must have stayed in her room. He approached the front door and I waited to hear it open. It didn't. At first, there was only silence, and then I heard something much worse.

"Sweetie Belle."

I gulped. Oh, no. No no no, he must have noticed me. Maybe if I didn't say anything-

"I can see your hooves, princess. Come on out of there."

I sighed. I never was any good at hide and seek. I stepped out from behind the curtain and walked over to him. He didn't _sound_ mad, at least. In fact, he sounded kind of nice. His voice was low and smooth and his Appaloosan accent was really thick.

"I wanted a glass of milk," I said, "and…you scared me. So I hid. I didn't know you were still here."

His eyes were still tired, but he smiled at me.

"So then, that wasn't you I heard at Rarity's door."

I flattened my ears and lowered my head. Busted again.

"Did she hear me, too?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No. I won't, but in kind, I need you to do something for me."

I remembered his comment earlier about him not wanting me to see him here in the morning.

"You want me to pretend I never saw you here, right?"

"Sweetie, if you say anything to Diamond about my being here tonight, I won't ever be able to come back. That would make your sister very sad, even more than she is now. It would hurt me, too."

"But why?" I asked. "Are you her coltfriend?"

He looked sad again.

"No, I'm not. It's…complicated, and delicate, I…"

He sounded as frustrated trying to explain it as I felt trying to understand it. We stood there for a minute as he tried to find the words, until Rarity's grandfather clock went off. His ears perked up and his head whirled around to look at it, and he finally seemed to remember that he had somewhere to be.

" Listen, Sweetie, you know what the most powerful business currency, is, don't you?"

"Bits?"

I scrunched up my nose. He chuckled a little and smiled down at me that really made me want to like him, and I might have, if we weren't standing in Rarity's hallway in the middle of the night.

" _Trust_."

"Trust." I repeated.

"Rarity and I are good friends, and we _trust_ each other to give good advice so we spend a lot of time together."

"Well, I guess that kind of makes sense…"

"Oh, it makes a lot of sense. You and your friends spend a lot of time helping colts and fillies try to get their cutie marks, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, that's why we got our cutie marks in it."

"And do you think they would keep coming to you if they didn't _trust_ your advice?"

I thought about what he said, and he kept going.

"Why, think about all the successful ponies you know. Do you think the Apple family would be running one of the most profitable farms on this side of Equestria if the entire town didn't trust them and their product? Do you think Twilight Sparkle would have become the princess of friendship if Celestia didn't trust her?"

"Well, no."

"So you see," he leaned in close and lowered his voice, as if he was letting me in on a big secret," the worst thing a pony can do is build a reputation that she's not the kind of pony that can be trusted. A pony who goes around telling other ponies' secrets is a pony nobody wants to share with."

I have no idea where they came from, but Mr. Rich had pulled out a couple of 5-bit pieces and cradled them neatly in his hoof, holding them out front of me. Even though it was night time, they still seemed to sparkle in the moonlight coming through Rarity's window.

"The pony who _can_ be trusted will be the pony who goes places. If I can _trust_ you to keep my little secret, you can _trust_ that I'll be sure to tell everypony I know that you're one of the finest, most trustworthy fillies I've ever met. I know a lot of ponies, Sweetie Belle. Think of all the ponies you could help with a reputation like that."

The desserts at Sugar Cube Corner are usually so good, but for some reason, the cupcakes I bought with the bits I got from Mr. Rich barely had any flavor at all.


End file.
